RA can create numerous symptoms and day-to-day challenges. Fortunately, there are many options when it comes to rheumatoid arthritis treatment.

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Whether you've just been diagnosed or have been living with RA for a long time, it's crucial to get the right treatment to prevent joint damage, control pain, and maintain your quality of life. The good news: There are many options. Learn what's available — and then talk to your doctors to determine what type of rheumatoid arthritis treatment will work best for you.

Lifestyle Modifications for Rheumatoid Arthritis
When it comes to maintaining quality of life, exercise, stress reduction, and healthful eating are very important.

Exercise helps maintain muscles, flexibility, and mobility in joints and can lead to weight loss, which can reduce stress on joints. It also improves sleep, reduces stress, and gives individuals a positive outlook.

Stress reduction techniques — such as biofeedback and visualization exercises — are often used to manage pain and fatigue.

Dietis important, but whether certain foods or diets can reduce inflammation is a hot topic when it comes to rheumatoid arthritis treatment. With the exception of omega-3 fatty acids found in some fish and plant seed oil, there's no scientific evidence that any specific food helps. Some studies, however, suggest that omega-3 fatty acids may reduce rheumatoid arthritis inflammation.

Medications for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Prescription drugs are standard for rheumatoid arthritis treatment. RA medications fall into three main categories: medications that treat pain and inflammation, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and steroids; medications that change the progression of the disease, such as disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs); and biologic therapies (or simply biologics). Your rheumatologist or primary care doctor can tell you whether these drugs may be right for you.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a class of drugs including aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), and naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn) that reduce pain and inflammation and may be used for both short- and long-term relief in people with rheumatoid arthritis. Prescription NSAIDs include the newer drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors that block an enzyme known to cause an inflammatory response.

Steroids combat inflammation and suppress immune response. They work quickly and dramatically but can also cause many side effects and require careful monitoring. Steroids can be taken by mouth or given by injection. Some common steroids are prednisone (Deltasone, Orasone), methylprednisolone (Medrol), cortisone (Cortone Acetate), and hydrocortisone (Cortef, Hydrocortone).

Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) slow the progression of rheumatoid arthritis and help prevent the destruction of cartilage and joints. They work by interfering with or depressing the immune system. It usually takes a few weeks or even months for DMARDs to have an effect, and patients may eventually use several different products. Patients taking DMARDs should be monitored carefully by their doctors. Examples of DMARDs include injectable or oral gold, hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), penicillamine (Cuprimine, Depen), sulfasalazine (Azulfidine), methotrexate (Rheumatrex), azathioprine (Imuran), cyclosporine (Sandimmune, Neoral), and leflunomide (Arava).

Biologic therapies, or biologics, are newer drugs that reduce RA inflammation in a more highly targeted manner than the DMARDs. Biologics are made through biotechnology and target very specific proteins or cells that are involved in the inflammatory process. Biologics have also been shown to help reduce the progression of joint damage in RA. The currently available biologic therapies for RA must either be injected under the skin (Enbrel [etanercept], Humira [adalimumab], Kineret [anakinra]) or infused through an IV (Remicade [infliximab], Orencia [abatacept], and Rituxan [rituxumab]).

Surgery for Rheumatoid Arthritis
People with severe joint damage may require several kinds of surgery:

Joint replacement is the most common surgery for rheumatoid arthritis and is performed to relieve pain and improve function. Newer materials are extending the lifespan of artificial joints, but these replacements can eventually wear out. Depending on the patient's weight, activity level, and other individual factors, artificial joints usually last 10 to 15 years.

Tendon reconstruction helps repair the tendons, or tissues that attach muscle to the bone, which are often damaged by rheumatoid arthritis. This procedure is performed mainly on the hands to help restore function.

Synovectomy may be done in combination with tendon reconstruction, but is rarely done on its own. In this procedure, doctors remove inflamed synovial tissue.

Alternative and Complementary Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Though there are no cures for rheumatoid arthritis, complementary therapy — like biofeedback and acupuncture — may help you ease and manage pain. Some complementary therapy may not mix well with more conventional rheumatoid arthritis treatment, so it's important to discuss the benefits or drawbacks of complementary therapy with your doctor before deciding to incorporate it in your treatment plan.

Future Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatments
The last few years have been productive ones for rheumatoid arthritis treatment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved several new drugs, and research on new biologic therapies is ongoing. Among other initiatives, scientists continue to study the genetic factors that make some people more likely than others to develop rheumatoid arthritis, to ask why more women than men are affected by the disease, and to consider whether the disease may be triggered by a virus or a bacterium. Information gathered from research may not only help explain the causes and effects of rheumatoid arthritis, but may lead to additional effective treatments.

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